Cork need to reap rewards of possession game

Over the coming days both the Cork and Kerry management teams will search for the improvements which could make all the difference in Saturday week’s Munster final replay in Killarney.

Eamonn Fitzmaurice admitted Sunday his team ‘got of jail’ and the statistics back up that assertion.

Cork came with a carefully laid out game plan and it worked well for three quarters of the tie. The utilisation of two sweepers, their kick-out strategy and the isolation of Colm O’Neill allied to a top-class running game were keys to this positive display by Cork.

Cork edged the possession tally 75 to 65 in the first quarter. In the second quarter Kerry were significantly on top 65/41. Just after the break Cork again were to the fore by an impressive 65/35. In the final quarter Cork dominated with a possession tally of 71/39.

Cork’s overall possession count of 55% does not reflect their dominance in this area. In the second half alone they won 65% of the overall possession and yet frustratingly they still failed to bridge the 20-year gap to their last success in Killarney.

The individual possession tallies also tell a story. Bryan Sheehan, with 19 possessions topped the Kerry list but the home side did not have a player who dictated the game.

Not one Kerry player had 20 possessions or more which is a very rare occurrence in a county that loves to control the football. In the second half it took James O’Donoghue 26 minutes for his first touch of the ball in open play.

Cork on the other hand had three players who were central in dictating this game. Mark Collins continued his fine League form with 33 possessions, Barry O’Driscoll who proved to be a thorn in Kerry’s side throughout had 29 possessions and Patrick Kelly slotted perfectly into the role of playmaker with 25 possessions despite only playing for 51 minutes.

The key to Cork’s possession dominance came from a superb kick-out strategy.

Ken O’Halloran found his man 18 times from 22 kicks. Cork were quite happy to concede short kick-outs to their opponents which negated one of Kerry’s supposed strengths. Yet on the day Kerry only won 4/13 breaks in midfield. Again the variety and intelligence of the Cork kick-out strategy meant Kerry never really got to grips with their opponents in this area.

Both Fitzmaurice and Brian Cuthbert will have been happy with their 71% scoring ratio returns but their collective work rates will be a cause of concern.

The collective tackle counts were below the expected norm for both sides. Cork’s collective tackle count has been low all year but Fitzmaurice will have been disappointed with the work rate of his team and especially with his starting full forward line that only made four tackles.

It was well-flagged before this contest that Cork were sure to employ a running game to exploit Kerry’s perceived defensive weakness.

Of their 252 possessions Cork hand passed the ball 178 times or 71% of the time. Kerry in contrast only hand passed the ball 58%. The question is can the Kerry management come up with a game plan at their second attempt to counter the obvious Cork ploy of using runners from deep.

Cork won the tactical battle hands down on Sunday but the question is can they go one better and win the replay on Saturday week.